Winemaker Notes
Deep and dark in color, the Russian River Valley offering has a complex array of fruit, floral, and citrus aromas. The wine has some mature blocks of Pommard from the WS Estate and early sites from the Santa Rosa Plain area of the Russian River Valley. With refreshing acidity and breadth of palate, this is a serious wine with red and black fruit flavors mixing with notes of citrus and black tea.
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2020 Williams Selyem Russian River Valley Pinot Noir is excellent from start to finish. TASTING NOTES: This wine offers aromas and flavors of bright pomegranate and a hint of oak. Enjoy it with grilled lamb chops. (Tasted: January 24, 2022, San Francisco, CA)
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2020 Pinot Noir Russian River Valley is packed with confected violet, macerated strawberry, and root beer spice. The palate is fleshy and ripe, with red cherry, turned soil, and cedar.
While the Russian River Valley is a large appellation with multiple climate zones and soil types, it is best known for cool-climate varieties, with Pinot Noir as the most celebrated. The grapes benefit from a reliable late afternoon flow of Pacific Ocean fog through the Petaluma Gap and along the Russian River Valley that ensures slow and steady ripening and the preservation of grape acidity. Today many of California’s most highly regarded Pinot Noir vineyards are in the Russian River Valley, along with its sub-appellation, Green Valley.
Historically Russian River Valley Pinot Noirs had bright red fruit and delicate earthy, mineral notes. But changes in viticultural and winemaking practices have led to stylistic changes in some of the region’s wines. Adjustments to canopy management, among other techniques, have resulted in riper fruit and bolder wines as well. These show flavors of black cherry, blackberry, cola, spice and darker, loamy earth tones, accenting traditional Pinot Noir notes of strawberry, raspberry and light cherry.